I am building a small chest out of bird's eye maple, and don't want to spend that much on the back which will never be seen.
Presumably the best thing would be to use some plain maple, but I have plenty of ash and oak scraps that I would like to use up. It will be about
thanks
Look at your design to determine direction of movement and make your joinery compensate for it. The key to backs and unders is that they generally fill a void rather than act structurally. Makes a resaw of matching lumber a good way to go. Just resaw some maple. The oak or ash would probably be more visually grating than a piece of birch ply.
I have some maple ply, but figured it would not expand like maple, so any real wood would be a better choice. The back is somewhat structural, as the lid will be hinged to it. I could secure it at the top and let the bottom float. I guess that would pretty much eliminate any problem, but would prefer to secure the bottom also.
Frame/panel my choice. Will you really be satisfied with something made of expensive wood, and then a chunk of mismatched whatever visible when you open the chest?
You could dovetail the upper and lower pieces into the carcass.
No. Any minor problems you might have will be dwarfed by the usual problems of mixing grain directions.
If you care, it's time to get a copy of Hoadley.
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